In Good Company: Timeless NYC Restaurant Branding

Our work with In Good Company (IGC) Hospitality over the better part of a decade illustrates the power of strategic branding in the restaurant industry. There are about 30,000 restaurants in NYC, and the ability to create a positive and memorable experience directly impacts whether a restaurant joins the 50% that don’t make it to the third year. A strong concept and a clear vision are table stakes, and the ability to connect and listen is what ultimately separates the fixtures from the failures. 

“Once you open up that restaurant, in six months, a year down the road, it’s gonna start telling you what that restaurant is, and if you don’t listen to that, you’re gonna close, and I think that’s that three-year mark.” Terence Tubridy, Owner of IGC, reflects on his experience in opening and running dozens of restaurants in NYC. “So we’re not just flash-in-a-pan restaurants; we’re here for the long haul. And that’s where this kind of stuff is even more important—connecting to multi-generational spaces, restaurants, and that kind of broad appeal because that’s the only way you’re gonna survive.”

Our collaboration began in 2017 with the Bungalow Bar, a venue dear to the Tubridy brothers of IGC, who were born and raised in Rockaway. The restaurant was coming up on its 10-year anniversary, and they were looking for a brand update, something to identify Bungalow for the next 10 years. The result was a messaging-forward identity rooted in authenticity, approachability, and community spirit. 

The Bungalow rebrand resonated deeply with both locals and visitors, and it also found a new source of revenue, which Terence describes: “Bungalow sells a ton of merch! When you see like 16 and 17-year-old kids wearing Bungalow shirts in the neighborhood, and when you see it in Florida or another country—we ran into somebody in Ireland that had on a Bungalow sweatshirt, and it was like holy shit, this is pretty epic!” 

In 2020, our partnership extended to the ambitious Rockaway Hotel project, a new 50-room hotel being built steps from the new NYC Ferry stop. Four restaurants were being planned for the hotel: the Pool, the Rooftop, Margie’s, and Greenhouse Cafe. Our role was to weave a consistent narrative across these spaces that celebrated Rockaway's beach culture and community focus. Relaxed luxury and curated activations connected the different restaurants at the hotel. 

An emphasis on art and culture further aligned the unique spaces. We created expansive brand worlds for the hotel and restaurants to guide and inspire the various collaborators. We’re really honored to have consulted on a project of this scale and importance to Rockaway.

Restaurants with a clear-cut offering and digital curb appeal had an edge during the pandemic. IGC approached us soon after the lockdown in NYC to dial in the positioning and branding of one of their quirkiest venues to help adapt to the new reality. The Wilson, nestled in NoMad’s vibrant district, needed to communicate its new culinary direction focusing on northeastern-style seafood. The venue was decorated with framed portraits of famous Wilsons and got its name from the idea that “you never met a Wilson you didn’t like.” 

It had personality in spades, but it needed some focus in order to cut through the noise and translate that spirit online. “Curb appeal online is as important as what the place looks like because everything’s digital, everything’s online,” Terence explained. We reimagined the identity to go all-in on seafood and reflect the eclectic atmosphere of the area, making it a beloved destination for innovative dining and take-out. Building on the success of the rebrand and easily articulated positioning, IGC opened a second Wilson location in Orlando, Florida—because 2 Wilsons are way better than one!

In 2021, we partnered with IGC and the Related Real Estate Group on a restaurant project in Hudson Yards. The project was set up as a collaborative exploration of naming, positioning, aesthetics, and branding to ultimately deliver a pitch deck for investment partners. The goal was to make the restaurant a neighborhood fixture in a neighborhood that was literally being built. Sometimes these new urban developments can feel like a culture vacuum, and we wanted to create something that felt like it had long roots. We embraced the history of the area as an industrial train yard with a design that honored urban cowboys and rugged aesthetics.

“You go into the new Hudson Yards and take a look at the history of it with the Highline and manufacturing and Irish immigrants in that neighborhood, I mean, where our families came from. It’s hard to pull that imagery out when you have these 1200-foot shiny buildings, but I also think that’s what makes it appealing to people, especially when they find their little hole, and O’Toole’s Way is what it is, and I think that’s why we are successful there,” reflects Tubridy.

Over the next few years, we updated both Park Ave Tavern and Parker & Quinn in Midtown Manhattan—each restaurant with over a decade of success and beloved by the locals. We aimed to amplify this legacy while positioning the venues for future growth and new locations. We conducted an extensive discovery phase that consisted of interviews with staff and patrons, a thorough brand audit, and a positioning workshop. We then tightened the brand screws on anything that seemed a little loose.

“The branding that Selman worked on speaks to our language—we don't want to be cool, we just we want to be here in 20 years. We want most of our places to be generational and that’s what’s cool to us.” Tubridy says, “The Selman team came into Park Avenue Tavern and it was like a light bulb went off. The rebrand matches where it is now, and that’s what’s important to us.”

In 2024, we helped launch Take Care and Vintage Green at the Shelburne Hotel. These brands were envisioned to encapsulate the essence of their respective themes—Take Care as heart-on-the-sleeve pride for NYC and Vintage Green as a nod to timeless, nature-inspired elegance. Each brand was developed through comprehensive phases of discovery, strategy, naming, and design. Overall, our approach was massively helpful in ensuring both projects authentically reflected IGC’s vision and values.

I attribute many of the skills I bring to running my design business to things I learned working in restaurants over the years—communication, time management, craft, and teamwork. But like Bourdain said, empathy, i feel is the true skill learned from time spent as a fry-guy, bartender, dishwasher, line cook, expeditor, and sandwich artist. 

So that’s 10 NYC restaurants in 8 years, with the good people at IGC Hospitality. It’s been a true pleasure to collaborate with a team that understands the value of a strong strategic foundation. It’s been a thrill to take a moment to reflect back on one hell of a culinary crawl. 

Now, who’s hungry?

Special thanks to all the collaborators over the years:

IGC Hospitality
Dee Tubridy, Dominick D’Aleo, Jeff Brosi, Jessica Muniz, Judith Wanderer, Lou Flores, Madison Dickman, Ryan Whelan, Stephanie Wagner, Terence Tubridy

Selman
Anne Di Lillo, Christopher Schroeder, Connor Linde, HanJoon Kim, Jess Brett, John Paul Chirdon, Jordan Tran, Katie King Rumford, Mike Scandiffio, Nicole Motta, Patrick Adams